Travel – Page 441

City hotels hurting

Hotel occupancy in Santo Domingo was 42% in May, according to the Santo Domingo Hotel Association. Last year, occupancy in May was at 61%. Overall, during the first quarter of the year, hotel occupancy in Santo Domingo declined 20.5%. City occupancy is down because Santo Domingo depends mainly on business activities, which have suffered a …

Playa Dorada Magazine

Playa Dorada Hotel Association formally launched its new Playa Dorada magazine at a gathering at the Hotel Embajador on Thursday, 3 June. The magazine had initially been released and distributed on occasion of the Dominican Annual Travel Exchange, that this year took place the last week in April at the Playa Dorada Plaza in Puerto …

Jet Blue starts flights

JetBlue begins flying to the Dominican Republic this Thursday, 10 June. New York?s low-fare carrier is launching twice daily service from New York?s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Santiago. A daily flight to Santo Domingo will start Thursday, 17 June. The carrier is offering introductory sale fares on these routes when booked at the …

Miss Universe 2004

Dominican Amelia Vega, Miss Universe 2003, will be crowning her successor Tuesday night, ending a very successful year as the first Dominican Miss Universe. The competition will take place in Quito, Ecuador. Those who have access to cable TV or satellite TV can follow the event on NBC from 8 pm on Tuesday, 1 June. …

Flooding has no effect on travel destinations

The rainfalls that caused the flooding in the inland town of Jimani, on the border with Haiti, and flooding along the inland Yuna River in the northeast of the country had no effect on the coastal travel destinations of the Dominican Republic. The worst flooding, causing hundreds of deaths, occurred on the border with Haiti …

Cigars, a fresh economic breeze

Fausto Adames, writing in the economic section of Hoy newspaper, reports that despite the fall in exports and the smaller local crop, local cigar manufacturers are maintaining their foothold in the world market. Contrary to the trends in bulk tobacco exports and tobacco harvesting, the cigar manufacturers are claiming that the rise in international cigar …

Kiteboarding in Cabarete

Some of the world?s best kiteboarders will be in Cabarete for the Bestkiteboarding World Cup that will take place 14-20 June. The event is part of the Professional Kiteboard Riders Association circuit and there will be US$36,000 in prize money, and the Bestkiteboard.com cup. Making matters better, nightly evening parties are planned along the Cabarete …

Focus on Amelia Vega

World press coverage is focusing on the Miss Universe pageant that is taking place in Quito, Ecuador. The star of the show is the Dominican Republic?s Amelia Vega, Miss Universe 2003, who is accompanying the contestants in Ecuador as she prepares to crown her successor on 1 June 2004. To follow the event and for …

UNESCO masterpiece rituals

The Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit of the Congos of Villa Mella will be staging their traditional rituals this coming 27-30 May. The 500-year-old tradition has been passed on from generation to generation and since 1941 has taken place at the central park of the community. The performances received world recognition when on 18 May …

Dominican child star

Daughter of Dominican emigrants to New York, Karina Pasian received good reviews for her performance alongside Andrea Bocelli in the ?We are the Future? concert broadcast live last week from Rome’s historic Circus Maximus. Pasian was chosen after being a winner of the CBS child talent show. The concert is hosted by the city government …

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